Beer brewing in Leeds

Le Petite d’or – Belgian Style Table Beer

Without wanting to get into the maelstrom that is the ‘session beer’ debate, I can admit that I favour beers I can at least have a fair few pints of without being 3 sheets to the wind after one or two. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate a big RIS or Belgian Quad, however on a day in, day out basis, I like a ‘drinkin’ beer. I also have a soft spot for belgian beers. The complex flavours in a beers that are more often than not far greater than the sum of their parts. Marry these two together and the obvious choice must be the Belgian style table beer. One of the more underrepresented belgian styles, although gaining in popularity recently. The Kernel, Jester King, and Notch Brewing to name a few of the modern interpretations. This beer is my contribution to the Saltaire Brewery/Northern Craft Brewers, I’ve been a bit slow in writing this brew up, but here goes. 25L 1.036 1.008 19IBU 6.5SRM Mash 70oC Expected ABV 3.7%

Fermentables

Ingredient

Amount

%

MCU

When

UK Pale Ale Malt

3.023 kg

75.0 %

2.8

In Mash/Steeped

German Munich Malt

0.322 kg

8.0 %

0.5

In Mash/Steeped

German CaraBelge

0.202 kg

5.0 %

0.7

In Mash/Steeped

Belgian Caramel Vienna Malt

0.202 kg

5.0 %

1.3

In Mash/Steeped

UK Caragold

0.202 kg

5.0 %

0.4

In Mash/Steeped

Belgian Aromatic Malt

0.081 kg

2.0 %

0.5

In Mash/Steeped

Hops

Variety

Alpha

Amount

IBU

Form

When

NZ Hallertauer Aroma

7.5 %

20 g

16.8

Loose Whole Hops

60 Min From End

Slovenian Styrian Goldings

4.5 %

20 g

2.2

Loose Whole Hops

10 Min From End

Slovenian Styrian Goldings

4.5 %

15 g

0.0

Loose Whole Hops

At turn off

NZ Hallertauer Aroma

7.5 %

15 g

0.0

Loose Whole Hops

At turn off

US Mt Hood

4.5 %

15 g

0.0

Loose Whole Hops

At turn off

Other Ingredients

Ingredient

Amount

When

Orange Peel, Dry (Sweet)

10 g

15 mins in Boil

Black Pepper

10 g

15 mins in Boil

Yeast

Mangrove Jacks M27 Belgian Ale (Saison)

I want this to be a low ABV easy drinker, without being too thin. The Mangrove Jack Saison yeast is meant to be a wicked attenuator, although I’ve had no experience with it until now, I’ve read that it’ll go down to 1.002. With this in mind I wanted to keep some body in the beer. The high mash temp should help to keep some dextrinous body in there, and 15% of mixed, low colour crystal malts should lend both a lovely golden colour (hence the name) and also stop the body from dropping out. The Munich and aromatic are there to boost the malt profile.

Dingemans Aromatic is a mildly kilned malt that will add a strong malt aroma and deep color when used as a specialty malt.

I choose the NZ Hallertauer Aroma to try and mix up the hop and add a little bit of a new world twist. The styrian Goldings are classic, and the Mt hood is simply the last of a bag! I don’t normaly put spices in my beers, but the theme of the Saltaire/NCBs competition this year is to add a 5th ingredient to the classic water, malt, hops, yeast. so I thought I’d drop in a bit of orrange peel and black pepper to add a little something. I was really happy with the colour this wort came out at. A lovely light golden copper colour I ended up with 26.5L in the FV at my predicted OG so my efficiency was up. The yeast was pitched and the brew was put to bed in the fermenting fridge at 26oC. A bit high for normal yeasts but Saisons and belgians like it warm. It was flying after 12 hours. I look forward to serving this to the Northern Craft Brewers. If it turns out well then it may have to be re-brewed so I have some at home! Updates to follow, as always comments, suggestions and observations more than welcome. cheers LB EDIT Some other peoples contribution to the same event can be found below: Broadford Brewer and his delicious looking Texas Brown Pdtnc and his hoppy blonde ale UPDATE: Well this beer seemed to go down a treat. It didn’t win, but I got some very kind comments from people, both on the day and after on twitter. I made a label to go on the keg font, nothing fancy, but looks the part! Cheers.

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One thought on “Le Petite d’or – Belgian Style Table Beer”

This is tasting really very good! The MJ yeast attenuated down to 1.006, even with the 70oC mash and 15% crystal malts. The balance is skewed towards the phenolics over the esters, but I like it that way. It is light to medium bodied without being thin. Looking forward to seeing what people think.